28 May
2010
28 May
'10
11:27 p.m.
Gang --
Alan Winston here.
I'm forwarding an offer/request from Liz Donnelly ( lizdonnelly(a)gmail.com ),
which might be interesting for the right person. The deal is that this is
something like the fifth year of a pretty-rustic electronic music camp (actual
camping, but with Really Big Speakers) over the July 4th weekend, in rural
California maybe 90 miles from Sacramento. They do a live-music party during
the event, and Liz had been to a contra dance and that would be a cool thing to
introduce to their group.
(I'm thinking barn dance/ONS material myself.)
They have no budget, but would offer free admission to the whole campout (which
is somewhere between $85 and $125, and has sold out, so you don't get in any
other way) for somebody to do this one-evening gig.
That's obviously a lot more interesting if you want to bring a tent and hang
out in the woods and swimming hole with a bunch of artsy, communitarian,
youngish, electronic music heads. (The sponsoring group runs a Tuesday night
party at Burning Man, if that sets your expectations at all.)
(I am not a big tent-camping fan and I have a limited tolerance for Really
Loud, and I'm busy that weekend, so I'm really not the guy. But I kinda think
anybody who took the gig and enjoyed being there would be doing god's work in
bringing them some engaged-with-each-over community dancing, so I volunteered
to put the opportunity in front of the biggest caller groups I could find.)
If you want to do this or find out more about it, write to
lizdonnelly(a)gmail.com, not to me. (But if you end up doing it, or find out
some utter showstopper, report back!)
Here's Liz's note:
========================================================================
Hi there,
My name is liz and i've got a long shot request for you: I am helping to
coordinate a camp out party in Beldon CA this summer. It is largely an
electronic music party, but each year we have a smaller party within the
party that often has live music. This year the theme for that party with in
the party is county/southern themed. In brainstorming activities for that
part of the event, there was lots of enthusiasm exposing our group to contra
dancing or partner dancing style.
*So, I am looking for someone who might be able to teach contra, or two step
or some other partner/group dance that fits well with in a country style
theme. *
I've done some contra dance & loved it: I love the way it is truly a
community dance and gives one an opportunity interact with so many other
dancers through the dance, for this reason, I think it would be fun to bring
to a community of dancers who mostly dance solo to electronic music.
However, I think part of why I loved it so much was I was dancing with lots
of people who knew what they were doing, so my missteps were easily
corrected and I could still feel the flow of the dance. I don't know how
well it would work in a group where just about no one will have ever done
contra before. So, this is why I am reaching out to you all... is this
something that is doable? or should we focus on finding a teacher for a more
partnered style of dance?
Lastly, and perhaps most awkwardly :-) this event is put on at low cost and
most of the folks involved volunteer their time for the fun of it. We do
pay the musicians & artist but all of the budget for the party within the
party has already been allocated for the band. So, I'm looking for someone
who might think this sounds like such a super fun event that they would want
to go to, and in exchange for a ticket could teach some dance. Here is the
link to the event. http://priceless.false-profit.com/.
Please let me know if you or someone you know might be a good fit.
Thanks!
L.
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Over to you.
-- Alan Winston
SF Bay Area, California
--
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Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025
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